


Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

by Darkmirror



Series: Learning to Fly [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: CPR, Gen, Learning CPR, Tough Topics Discussed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27785518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkmirror/pseuds/Darkmirror
Summary: The student becomes the teacher when Nightwing teaches the Team CPR after a mission almost ends in disaster. Heavy on the dis.
Series: Learning to Fly [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868839
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58





	Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

**Author's Note:**

> This will take place some time just before or in early Season 2.  
> Italicized portions happened in the past.

_ “Oh my god what do we do?” Cassie shouted at her teammates. She’d never had to deal with a situation like this.  _

_ They had been finishing up their sting operation, ushering out the last of the civilians from the building, when suddenly one of the men had made a choking sound and dropped to the floor. He wasn’t breathing. _

_ “He needs mouth to mouth,” La'gaan said, though it didn’t look like he was aware that he had said it outloud.  _

_ “Then do it!” Cassie shouted. _

_ “I don’t know how!” the Atlantian yelled back waving his hands in front of him, eyes bugging out at the idea of having that responsibility. I mean he theoretically knew what to do but he had no confidence in himself to actually do it. What if his knowledge wasn’t accurate or complete? Humans didn’t breath the same way Atlantian’s did. He didn’t want to accidentally kill the man (though technically he was dead now sooo….) _

_ “Well someone has to do something!” Cassie said, looking to the others but they all looked just as lost and freaked out as she felt. None of her training had ever covered this. First aid for wounds and serious injury sure, but CPR... _

_ Suddenly everyone was talking and offering suggestions. _

_ “I think you need to do chest compressions.” _

_ “Wasn’t there a number for those?” _

_ “No, there was a song! What was it?” _

_ “Don’t you have to give them mouth to mouth first?” _

_ “How many breaths is it?” _

_ “You mean we have to kiss him!” _

_ “What’s going on here?” came a curious voice at the back of the group. Nightwing had just finished securing their targets in the other room when he heard the others shouting. Beast Boy seemed to be the only one to notice his arrival. Immediately the boy turned to his leader, eyes huge. _

_ “Nightwing you gotta help!” the green boy shouted, grabbing at his leader's hand and pointing towards the center of the group of panicking teens. If anyone would know what to do Nightwing would, Garfield was sure. Nightwing was their leader, he knew everything.  _

_ Nightwing looked down into the young boy’s pleading, desperate eyes and then looked towards where he pointed. That’s when the older hero saw the legs lying on the ground. He immediately started moving towards them. _

_ “Move!” Nightwing ordered as he shoved the others out of the way and dropped down beside the civilian man. No external injuries, he noted, but the man wasn't breathing. He placed his ear to his chest. No heartbeat.  _

_ He got up on his knees. “Step back,” He ordered and then turned and pointed a finger straight at Blue Beetle. “Call 911.” He turned back to the man on the floor, not sparing anyone a second glance after giving his orders, trusting them to do as told.  _

_ He tilted the man’s head back to straighten his airway and gave a swipe inside his mouth to see if there was any foreign object that needed to be removed and move his tongue out of the way. Then he began chest compressions, counting them off as he did.  _

_ At 30 he leaned down, tilted the man’s chin to straighten the airway once more, pinched the guy’s nose and administered two rescue breaths. No change. He began chest compressions again. _

_ “Paramedics are on their way,” Blue Beetle reported. Nightwing didn’t look up or stop what he was doing. He just kept performing CPR. He hoped he wasn’t too late. _

_ Not long after Blue’s pronouncement the man gave a startling, shuddering breath. _

“So today we are going to be training in CPR,” Nightwing said to the young heroes gathered around him. No one looked surprised at this announcement. In fact most of them nodded eagerly, the focus on all their faces giving Nightwing no small amount of pride.

Most of the time him announcing that training would be anything other than sparring or some type of martial arts training was met with loud groans and moans and protests. None of them saw the value yet in learning meditation techniques, or how to read blueprints, or learning to identify certain chemicals and compounds by sight or smell. They just wanted to learn how to bust heads better (not that Nightwing didn’t understand that desire). Maybe the incident in their last mission had been just what they needed to realize there was more to being a hero than just kicking bad guy butt. 

He swept a hand behind him and everyone took note of the dummies laid out at even distances behind him. “These are going to be your practice dummies,” Nightwing said and then turned back to face the Team fully, hands held behind his back. “Before we get to that though I am going to demonstrate proper Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation procedure, or CPR.” They all nodded and he gestured for them to come in closer as he knelt down. The Team moved in to form a circle around him, some of them kneeling down so those behind them could also have a clear view.

“First thing to do is quickly check your surroundings. Try and figure out what happened to cause the person to need CPR.” Nightwing instructed. “Are there any spilled pill bottles or a knocked over chair? Is there a visible wound or foam around the mouth? Is anyone else in the room? You won’t always have the benefit of seeing what happens so it’s important to quickly take note of and assess these things because they could affect your procedure. 

“For example, if there is a knocked over chair then perhaps the person fell from it or out of it and hit their head. In which case we would want to be careful when moving them, especially around the neck area. 

“If there are spilled pills or a plate of food, we may want to check for a foreign object lodged in their throat. In which case, we may have to start with the Heimlich maneuver first. Who knows how to do that?” Nightwing asked, having just realized he may have to teach that in this session too. No one raised their hand. Nightwing gave a reassuring smile at all their uncertain and downtrodden looks. “Guys,” he said kindly, waiting until he had everyone’s eyes back on him to continue. “This is why we train. So we can learn and improve.” This seemed to reassure most of them.

“We’ll work on that next, but for now let's focus on CPR.” Nightwing said and got back into teacher mode. “If the victim has foam around the mouth or you notice anything spilt near them then they may have ingested a poison. If so you will need to be extremely careful in performing the rescue breaths. It may even be safer to  _ not  _ perform the rescue breaths at all and just do the chest compressions. Alternatively you could place something over their mouth as a barrier like a t-shirt or a piece of plastic with air holes in it.

“Remember,” Nightwing said sternly. “You getting affected by the same chemical as your victim helps no one.  _ Always  _ perform CPR in a way that is safe to you  _ and  _ the person you're trying to help.” He waited until everyone had nodded.

“Next, you call 9-1-1. Ideally if there is anyone else in the room you have them do this so you can get started on the CPR.” Everyone was nodding along, recalling Nightwing doing just that on their mission. “If there is a crowd do not just randomly shout out ‘someone call 9-1-1’.”

“Why?” Lagoon Boy asked. To him, that seemed like the logical thing to do. 

“Because people have a tendency to think that someone else will do it when they’re in a crowd, which results in no one doing it,” Nightwing explained. He received a bunch of “oohhhs” and a few looks that said they had experienced something like that before. “It’s always better to point someone out, literally, and tell them to do it. Alright?” Everyone nodded, remembering that night how Nightwing had singled out Blue Beetle to make the call rather than just shouting it out at all of them. Cassie had thought Nightwing had done that just because Blue was in front of him, but she should have known there was a deeper meaning. She was quickly learning that none of the Bats seemed to do anything without having a reason.

“So now we have assessed the scene and paramedics are on the way, which means now it is time to perform the actual CPR.” Nightwing grabbed a hold of this dummy and continued. “First thing to do is make sure the person is laid out flat on their back and there are no obstructions on or under them,” as Nightwing spoke he moved his half dummy into position, taking care to make sure it was completely straight and laid flat. “Next you check for anything that could be obstructing the airways. After all there is no point in giving a rescue breath if the air isn't going to reach their lungs right?” The others gave affirmative noises and slight grins. “Sometimes this just means tilting their head so their neck straightens out and taking a peek inside. Other times- like if you're in the dark- you may have to take a swipe with your finger to make sure. Again, only do that if you feel it is safe for you to do so.” Nightwing reiterated. His teammates nodded. 

“Then it’s time to start compressions,” Nightwing said and held both his arms out parallel to the ground. “Positioning is important. Place one hand on top of the other,” he said and did the motion in accordance to his words. He moved his arms down so his hands were resting on the dummy's chest. “Place your joined hands at the center of the person’s chest. Keep your elbows straight at all times. Your shoulders, elbows, and hands should all be in alignment.” He could feel everyone leaning in with him as he braced his body over the dummies. 

“When you give your compressions push down to a depth of about 2 inches and at a quick pace. Basically just give a good push. If you have enhanced strength make sure you don't push too hard ok.” Cassie and a few of the others nodded, looking a bit nervous. “We’ll work on that technique during this training so don’t let it freak you out,” Nightwing added with a reassuring grin. He received a few grins in return. He remembered Conner having a similar concern a few years ago when he had had to learn this. 

“Make sure you let the chest come up completely before pushing down again. Your pace should aim for 100 compressions per minute. Like this,” He demonstrated a few compressions before looking around. Some of them were starting to look alarmed or overwhelmed. Nightwing wasn’t too worried, he had a plan for helping them all remember their pacing but that would be later. “The golden ratio for CPR is 2 rescue breaths to every 30 chest compressions. Like so,” and Nightwing started performing the chest compressions.

Once he reached 30 he lifted his hands back to the dummies chin. “Every time you perform the rescue breaths you’ll have to re-tilt the person’s chin to ensure their airway is straight and unblocked. Basically just straighten out their neck,” everyone nodded, eyes glued to their leader. Nightwing pinched the nose and performed the two breaths. “Each breath should be short and a bit forceful. You're trying to push the air into their lungs but you don't want to hurt them ok?” More nods. “Then you repeat. Line up your hands and arms again and begin your 30 chest compressions. You keep doing this until the person is revived or professionals arrive,” Nightwing said, sitting back on his lower legs so he could properly look at everyone. 

“So how many compressions do you do?” He asked. They all looked back at him blankly before a few mumbled the answer. “How many chest compressions do you do?” He asked more forcefully. 

“Thirty!”

“And how many rescue breaths?”

“Two!” Nightwing nodded. Everyone seemed to be following along well and he was pleased to note that no one looked too freaked out with all the information. He knew it was a lot to take in and that most of them wouldn’t really get it until they got to try on their own. That was fine. That was what the dummies and this training were for. 

Unfortunately, there was no test at the end of this class. The test for this training would happen in the real world with someone's life on the line. It was a sobering thought and as much as Nightwing didn’t want to, he had to make sure they all understood this fact.

“When performing CPR,” Nightwing said and the seriousness of this tone had everyone sitting and standing up straighter. “It’s important to remember that permanent brain damage can begin to set in after 4 minutes without oxygen and that after 8-10 minutes brain death can occur.” Nightwing watched his teammates' complexions pale as reality set back in. These may be dummies they’d be practicing on but that wouldn’t be the case the next time they did this.

Nightwing recalled feeling a similar sense of foreboding that he now saw coming over some of his teammates, when Batman first told him those stats. “These are not concrete numbers but it is important to remember that when you find someone like this, you are on the clock and every second counts.” Nightwing hated having to remind them of this but they were heroes and this was their reality, as brutal as that seemed. They needed to know this.

“By no means does this mean you have to stop performing CPR after ten minutes,” Nightwing added, his tone a bit lighter. “You continue until professionals arrive, the person is revived, or  _ you  _ think it is time to call it.” Nightwing looked around at all his friends, making sure they understood. Some nodded, but all met his eyes. 

Nightwing looked back down at his dummy, his words stirring forth an old memory. Before his eyes laid not a dummy, but a woman he had pulled from the freezing Gotham river after she’d been pushed in. Her clothes had been soaked, the water melting the snow under her. Her dark, wet hair had been a stark contrast against her pale face and the white snow.

“I once performed CPR on a woman for 17 minutes before paramedics were able to arrive,” Nightwing said, his tone preoccupied as his mind continued to replay the memory. The shivering of his body. The burning of his arms. The continued lifelessness of her corpse.

“Did she survive?” Nightwing blinked himself out of the memory and looked up at Beast Boy. He smiled sadly.

“No, she didn’t.”

His friends looked stricken and sad, many of them looking away.

Nightwing took a moment to steady himself. “That’s something you’ll have to come to grips with when performing CPR. It doesn’t always work and in all likelihood you could lose the person you're trying to save,” Nightwing admitted. The mood in the room darkened further, the reality of their world- that people couldn’t always be saved- settling in uncomfortably close. 

“Hey,” Nightwing said gently. Everyone slowly looked back at him, surprised by the vicious smirk splitting his face. “That doesn’t mean we don’t try. Even if it’s not guaranteed to work, or if the odds are low, that doesn’t mean we don't still try to save them.”

It took a moment, but slowly the mood started to shift, becoming less dark and oppressive but no less serious and heavy. They all looked reinvigorated and focused by his words. 

That’s right, that’s what it meant to be a hero; to fight even when the odds were against you, even when others said it couldn’t be done.Those looks of conviction in their steady eyes had a fiery pride swelling within Nightwing as he looked around at his team.

“Right!” Nightwing said and clapped his hands together loudly, startling a few people. He was tired of this gloomy atmosphere. He stood. “Now it’s your turn. I want everyone to find themselves a dummy and kneel next to it.” The others started moving to comply with the order. Dick was slightly surprised (and disappointed) no one had made a dummy joke. He supposed their previous topic hadn’t left too many in a joking mood.

Once everyone was in place and ready Nightwing called out, “What’s the golden ratio for CPR?”

“30 compressions to 2 breaths!” Everyone shouted back confidently. Nightwing grinned. 

“What is the rate of compressions per minute to maintain?”

This time no one answered and he watched as they all started looking to each other for the answer. Nightwing’s smile softened, he hadn’t expected anyone to remember. No one except Timmy had ever remembered.

“It’s 100 compressions per minute,” he told them. Some of them seemed to recall hearing that and he watched Bumblebee smack her hand against her forehead. He didn’t mind. What he did mind was the downtrodden look they were starting to display at getting the answer wrong. 

“Guys it's fine if you don't remember that becauseeee,” he held the last syllable, waiting until he had everyone's undivided attention before winking. “I have a cheat for remembering it.” With that he hit a button on his wrist and suddenly music as blasting from the speakers. 

He chuckled as a few of his teammates jumped at the sudden noise.

“Is this ‘Staying Alive’?” Garfield asked, remembering his mom listening to it sometimes. Nightwing beamed.

“It is. And if you ever forget the rate of compression for  _ keeping someone alive _ then you just have to remember this song.”

“Why?” Jamie asked. 

“The beat of this song has the same rhythm you need to keep while performing CPR,” Nightwing said with a big grin.

“No wayyy,” BB said and Nightwing looked at him.

“Way.”

“That’s so cool!”

“And so much easier to remember,” someone else mumbled.

Nightwing smiled.

“If you guys ever forget the pacing for your compressions just remember this song. Its beat is a perfect match to what your compression pace should be.” As he spoke he got back down into position over his own dummy and then began pumping as he sang. The others all watched him for a moment before breaking into tiny grins. Nightwing was so weird. And cool.

After a time Nightwing began circulating the room, correcting techniques where needed and awarding praise where good technique was spotted. By the end of the training everyone was humming the song and looking far more confident in themselves, suggesting different scenarios they could come across and how to react in each one.

\---------------------

_ Wayne Manor later that evening _

Alfred walked into the kitchen to find Master Richard humming and dancing as he made some coffee. Not an unusual sight, he was happy to report as he quietly watched the young man “groove about” in the kitchen. Alfred only needed a moment to identify the catchy and distinct melody. He smiled.

“Did the training go well then Master Dick?” Alfred asked as he stepped into the room. Dick looked up and smiled. 

“It did,” he said happily. “Teaching them your little trick for keeping the pacing at the end really seemed to help too.” Dick added with a smile. He remembered Bruce first teaching him CPR; cold and serious and demanding. Dick had been fumbling keeping his pacing consistent and Bruce just kept repeating the same stats to him. 

_ “Keep your pacing at 100 compressions per minute. Focus.” _

_ It hadn’t been helping. _

_ Alfred had come down to inform Bruce of a phone call and the man left Dick to practice on his own. Alfred watched for a moment noting the increasing frustration in the young boy’s movements as he fumbled the pacing again. He made a frustrated noise before closing his eyes and trying again. His pacing began to speed up again at around the 20 mark and soon Dick was smashing his forehead onto the dummy in frustrated surrender. Alfred couldn’t contain his small smile at the dramatics.  _

_ Reaching into his coat the old butler took out his phone and began typing something on the screen.  _

_ He walked over to the young boy and kneeled down before him. “You know Master Dick I find it easier to remember my pacing when I think of this,” he said and hit the play button. Dick looked up in surprise as music started playing. Alfred smiled. “The beat to this song is the same as the pacing required for CPR. If you play it in your head as you do your compressions you’ll stay in rhythm.” _

_ Dick’s eyes lit up. “That’s so cool Alfred!” _

Alfred smiled. “I’m glad to hear it Master Dick.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading:)) I’m not 100% satisfied with this (I think I went a little overboard with explaining procedure) but I hope you all enjoyed it:) Please leave a comment and/or kudo!  
> This is correct CPR procedure to my knowledge.
> 
> On another note my updates may be coming slower and less consistently from now on. I’ve posted all the chaps I’ve had written (mostly written) or thought out, so anything new has to be inspired, thought up, written and edited now. Sorry!  
> Hope you enjoyed!!


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